releases: http://barletta.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/barletta-testifies-in-support-of-unaccompanied-alien-children
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| http://barletta.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/barletta-testifies-in-support-of-unaccompanied-alien-children | Barletta Testifies in Support of Unaccompanied Alien Children Transparency Act | 2014-12-10 | 2014 | 2014-12 | Republican | House | PA | Lou Barletta | B001269 | barletta.house.gov | legacy | Click here or on image to watch Rep. Barletta's testimony WASHINGTON – Congressman Lou Barletta, PA-11, today testified in a House Judiciary Committee subcommittee in support of his legislation, the Unaccompanied Alien Children Transparency Act (H.R. 5409). Barletta introduced the bill in September in response to the flood of illegal immigrants who streamed across the United States border with Mexico earlier this year. Barletta told members of the Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security that the legislation empowers governors and local elected officials to control whether or not the federal government can place unaccompanied minors, who have illegally entered the country, into their communities. “It is critical that state and local governments are not left in the dark,” Barletta said. “Lawmakers must know who is coming to their communities, how much it will cost, and how it will impact their health and educational systems, which is why my bill gives local communities veto power if this information is not provided to their satisfaction. I wish we didn’t need legislation like mine, but unfortunately, my bill is needed due to the total lack of transparency by the administration following the surge of crossings over the southern border.” The legislation requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide state and local elected officials with a 30-day notice and comment period to determine for themselves whether they are prepared and able to receive unaccompanied alien minors. In particular, HHS would be responsible for assessing and informing communities of the cost and impact of receiving them. The department must also certify that the unaccompanied alien minors have undergone health screenings, including vaccinations, as well as criminal background checks, and pose no public health or safety threat. “Such steps are vital to ensuring the welfare of our communities,” Barletta said. “I have already been informed of several instances of unaccompanied alien minors seeking to enter schools in my district who have not been properly screened or vaccinated. They have absolutely no formal education and cannot speak English. What grade should the school system put them in? How can the school district be prepared when students like this just show up at their doorstep?” Barletta first became aware of the need for the legislation when local officials from his hometown of Hazleton alerted him that a non-profit organization had been investigating opening a facility to house some of the unaccompanied minors who had crossed the border this past summer. “That’s how I found out – because an organization had called the city,” Barletta said. “The federal government didn’t tell anyone about the plan: not the Governor, not the Department of Public Welfare, not Luzerne County. When I made the information public, residents of Hazleton expressed their concerns, and the plan was dropped. Had I not been informed of the situation by local officials, the plan would have proceeded without public notice.” Barletta said the legislation is more necessary than in years past because of the recent surge, which he attributed to a failure of the federal government to enforce immigration laws. He highlighted the Obama policy of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), in particular. “In 2011, President Obama’s head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement released a series of memoranda announcing his agency would not be enforcing immigration laws against certain segments of the illegal immigrant population, effectively telling illegal immigrants that being in the country unlawfully was not reason enough to deport them,” Barletta said. “Then, in 2012, the President announced his DACA program, which grants deferred action to certain illegal immigrants who claim to have arrived in the U.S. before the age of 16, and requires them to apply for a work permit.” Barletta said that the president’s recent expansion of executive amnesty will only contribute to the problem. “He’s telling people that so long as they make it into this country, they won’t be asked to leave and will be rewarded with a work permit, Social Security, and Medicare,” Barletta said. “I fear it will not be long before we see another massive surge of illegal immigration along our southern border.” | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |